Top 7 Billing Best Practices to Follow

Billing is one of the most important aspects of any business. While some customers are more reliable than others when it comes to paying on time, your own actions also play a part. There are certain billing best practices that will provide you with better results. Here are seven billing tips to help you get paid on time.

Make Sure Payment and Due Date Stand Out

Don’t give customers an excuse to claim they didn’t know when the bill was due or the proper amount. Make sure that the key information is prominently displayed and easy to read.

Itemize All Items on Your Invoices

Always itemize everything on the invoices you send out. This helps to avoid issues such as customers calling you asking what the bill was for. If you sent out multiple products or performed several different services, don’t just send out a bill with the total. Itemizing each item clearly lets customers know exactly what they’re paying for.

Offer Multiple Payment Options

The more options you offer customers, the more likely it is that you’ll get paid on time. People have a wide variety of preferences when it comes to making payments. Offer as many options as possible.

Double Check Contact Person

It’s best to be clear about the contact person for payments before you even send out any invoices. You don’t want to get switched from one party to another when contacting the customer. If it’s a business with many employees and departments, it’s important to know exactly whom to contact. Keep in mind that the person in charge of a project isn’t necessarily the one who’s responsible for paying invoices.

Make Sure Invoices are Accurate

If you want people to pay your invoices, make sure they don’t contain any errors. It’s easy to make mistakes such as typos or even sending invoices to the wrong person or business. This type of mistake can be extremely costly.

Send Out Invoices in a Timely Manner

In some cases, businesses don’t get paid on time because they’re late sending out invoices. Make sure your bookkeeping process is efficient and that you stay on top of invoicing. Sending out late invoices can cause confusion on the part of clients.

Follow Up on Larger Invoices

While you naturally want to get paid by everyone, it’s especially crucial to follow up on larger invoices. If larger clients are late with payments it can seriously disrupt your business’s cash flow. If such an invoice is late, make sure you make a call to verify that the bill was received.

These are some of the billing best practices that will help you get paid more consistently. Of course, even if you follow all of these billing tips, there’s never a guarantee that all clients will pay on time. One way to offset this problem and ensure that late-paying customers don’t harm your cash flow is to use invoice factoring with Riviera Finance. This is a simple but powerful process that allows you to receive consistent payments for all of your invoices.